Magic Kinder - Bedtime Stories and Videos for Kids

Teacher Overview

The Magic Kinder App is a free application from Kinder which offer free games, bedtime stories, videos, educational facts, creativity and many other surprises. The app can be used individually or by supporting parents. You can add and personalise avatars, set time limits and decide how much your child can download. The application is free from in-app purchases and advertising. The app is aimed at the age range of 5 according to iTunes and explores categories such as Children’s Day, Natoons, Play & Learn, Videos, Stories, Draw and Paint and Discover the Planet.

Teacher Review

Upon opening the application, the user is asked to register for a Magic Kinder Community account so they can personalise their avatar, use the parental settings and sync the app on all devices. We were uncomfortable providing an email to Kinder but subscribed anyway to gain a full experience of the app. The app can be used without an account. Once our account was verified we signed in and returned to the home screen. The user remains logged in until they log out.

The home screen is beautifully presented and has a number of functions. The top left icon displays the avatar of the current user and by pressing this parent can access further controls such as changing user and adding another user. We liked the fact that multiple users can be added, personalised and switched during gameplay. The bottom left icon displays a Privacy Policy which is accessed by a three-digit security code. We would like to see the level of security code stepped up throughout the app to possibly a multiplication question as our users from the age of six could read the numbers and access settings.

Once accessed the Privacy Policy is displayed via the internet browser. It is a shame that this policy is displayed outside the app and the user cannot go back to the previous page without re-entering the application.

The Grown-ups icon in the bottom right again requires a simple three-digit access code and once accessed displays the users and further settings. Parents can add and remove users, change notifications, change user details and set time limits for users (2 hours maximum). The developers can be commended for this function as it is often a feature over looked by developers, although security access again was quite easy.

The top right QR code icon enables children to scan Kinder Eggs and collect egg icons from the numerous Kinder themes. We really liked this feature although the app description does tell us that no chocolate is mentioned - this is a sure fire way of selling more products (there are 172 to collect). It is noted that transition between the functions is smooth and flawless.

Some of our users were confused when the app displayed a loading bar and tried to press further buttons. The developers may consider a keyword such as ‘Nearly there’ or a moving car as the loading bar.

The games:

‘Children’s Day’ – Once again the splash screen, graphics and sound are excellent. Within this game the child is asked to travel around a world map completing six different tasks. A pull down map displays the tasks completed. If the user cannot complete a task they can move back and forward via the arrow icons.

Task 1 – The Scales – The aim of this game is to balance the clown on the ball without him falling over whilst avoiding the thrown balls. We liked the in-app instructions however our users, especially the younger users, found this incredibly hard to complete and the game lacked in sensitivity.

Task 2 – The Flags – Within this game the child is asked to match six countries flags to a world map. We are really unsure why the developers have chosen some of the most obscure and unrecognisable flags of the world when there are better flags to choose from. Our younger users really struggled with some of the flags and it became a game of trial and error or guessing. Once the flag is chosen correctly the user is asked to match two food dishes associated with the country. Once again some of these were very obscure and difficult to identify, however we did like the in-app prompt help button.

Task 3 – The Letter – This section of the app enables the users to choose either a Pharaoh, a Koala Bear or a Monkey. Once chosen the app asks for access to the devices camera where the user can match their face to the character and take a photo. We really enjoyed this function and had great fun taking pictures. We recommend that the photos are stored in a Gallery within the app rather than on the camera roll. The feature to print these directly from the app would be a welcomed.

Task 4 – The Picnic Basket – Within this game the user has to squash the insects before they reach the basket. The in-app instruction was very good and again the graphics are excellent. The user has three lives and must complete a score of over 215 to be awarded the cup. It might be beneficial for a leader board and retained scores to be included to create competition. We really enjoyed this game and found it very addictive, however, we would question its educational value apart from developing fine motor skills.

Task 5 – The Magnify Glass – This was probably our favourite game where the user has 30 seconds to find a person, pet or object within a picture by searching. Some of the objects to find were very small and the developers might consider a hint button to enable the user which when pressed decreases the time. There are several pictures to search.

Task 6 – The Paint Brush – This is a feature that is included in the ‘Draw & Paint’ section of the application and we will explore this later on in the review.

‘Natoons’ – This part of the application enables the user to explore the world of animals. There are 17 animals to discover and each animal is accompanied by a short video. The video downloads very quickly with a Wi-Fi signal but may have some delay without. Each video is presented to a high standard with a mixture of photographic video, cartoons the narration. The developers may consider a quiz section after the short videos. The narration is American.

‘Play & Learn’ – Within this section there are four games to play. We love the little quirky graphical interactions the app offers whether its flicking a ball or bursting bubbles.

‘Save the Bubbles’ – This section of the app is littered with great graphics and gameplay. We love the fact that there is a high score leader board, options to change users and remove the sound. This is a game that would really appeal to siblings and parents as a two-player game. Once the single player or two player game has been chosen there is an option to choose players or play against the computer. Choose a Fairy (others are locked) and look at the comic strip instructions. Many of our users found these comic style instructions very hard to understand and simply skipped past them. The in-app instruction once again is useful and explains the need to get five icons in a row. The app choses which player goes first. We found the gameplay really exciting and competitive. We would suggest that when the user opts for the one player game against the computer the name is replaced with a fairy name rather than CPU.

‘A splash of colour’ – The same gameplay as the description above except with coloured pens rather than Fairies.

‘Sprint Future Cars’ – The user is provided with a help section and also gets to choose a car colour. This game is presented well and the user has to collect 40 stars and complete the level to the end. The car can jump when tapped by the user to avoid holes in the road, rocks or mines. A double tap will make the car leap higher. Once again we really enjoyed this game and found it highly addictive, however, we would question its educational value.

‘Watch videos’ – The developers can be congratulated by the vast amount of content in this section of the app. There are videos from Natoons, Magic Fingers, Secret Life of surprises, The protectors of the planet, Sing & Dance, Farm friends, Mixart, Youmitik and Sprinty. Within these themes are numerous videos to explore. We particularly like the fact that some of these videos feature great ideas for parents to share with their children. The ‘Mixart videos are inspiring. Many of these videos share some great educational topics and key messages suitable for a wide age range and gender.

‘Stories’ – This section focuses on 5 different stories. Each story includes fun graphics and American narration. We enjoyed popping the bubbles whilst the story loaded. The graphics are clear and precise, however, we did find some of the text very small and overwhelming. The ‘plus’ icon gives you further information about elements in the stories which was sometimes missed by users. The developers should consider keeping the text to lower case as younger children find capitals confusing and difficult to read.

‘Draw and Paint’ – We love this section of the app and our users were really inspired. There are seven pictures to choose from and three options to colour; free colour, colour within the lines and colour fill. Most of our users opted for the colour fill option as they wanted to keep their painting as neat as possible. The picture has a paint palette on the left of the picture. We found this very frustrating to use as sometimes the background filled in when you chose a colour. The undo button appears in the top centre and a share button to camera roll appears top right although this was not evident. We feel that the palette should be placed on the right hand side and not as an overlay to stop accidental filling. We also noticed that there was a break in the lines of some of the drawings. When the girl was filled in her face and hair had to be the same colour. More options for pages and a direct print feature would be ideal.

‘Discover the Planet’ – Again the developers can be congratulated for the vast amount of content in this section. The user can choose an array of icons to display information about the world. Each icon is accompanied by facts and pictures where the user can opt to read more. There is no narration here and we did find some of the information incredibly text heavy. Each section also has a multiple choice quiz which is scored at the top. There is no leader board here and a wrong answer simply enables you to try again.

Overall this application has a huge amount of content and the developers have done a great job in presenting the app. However, we did feel that the app was in consistent in its approach and was a mixture of ability and target audience. The app has a rating of 5 and under on iTunes yet a five-year-old could not possibly read the heavy text that appears in some of the features. The EAS recommends that the features are separated into age ranges or the rating is increased to 8 and above. The app is also limited in how a parent can interact with their child as much of the content is either gameplay, information or video. The only section we could see where a parent could have input was the videos like ‘Mixart’ where ideas could be created together. Here we would question the educational value of the app. There is no mention of numeracy or literacy. With this in mind the classroom usage is limited unless the teacher was using the app to support story time or a theme such as ‘The Planet’ etc. Most of the development skills for a child using the application are communication, taking turns, fine motor skills, thinking and reasoning and creativity. Some of the apps features appear in more than one section and the application is reliant heavily upon video which may put off some parents especially as some of the videos are self-promotion for Kinder rather than educational.

The EAS would recommend the Magic Kinder Application for its content alone and many parents and children will find something of interest and value. The Magic Kinder application is a good app and with some slight changes could be a great application.

Subjects

Safeguarding

Screenshots

Developer Description

The MAGIC KINDER APP has been created for families with children taking into account the wishes and needs of parents around the world. It is a safe space for children by giving you, the parent, total control in the usage of the app through special settings that only you can access within the app.
We offer total peace of mind that your children are safe in the Magic Kinder environment.

You can add avatars, set time limits and decide how much content your child can download.

Magic Kinder contains exclusive content from games, stories, videos and various activities such as quizzes and coloring. All geared towards being educative and entertaining so that your children can interact whilst learning.

And we help parents too! Magic Kinder also offers content to help you make the most of your time with your children.

The application does not show reference to the Kinder products and your children will never see advertisements!

The physical toy surprises are the only reference to the product.
IMAGINATION is the REAL SURPRISE!

If you wish to contact us, please do so through contact@magic-kinder.com

If you have any questions regarding the privacy policy please write to privacy@ferrero.com